Photolocator Online Manual
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This page contains operating instructions for Photolocator.  Please note that this section has been revised to apply to versions 4.X. If you have version 3.X, some of the data may not apply. 

  1. Quick Start Instructions
  2. Using Workspaces
  3. Adding new images to the database
  4. Adding addresses, etc. to the database
  5. Using the  Disk Manager
  6. Using  Photo Locator on a Network
  7. Searching with  the database 
  8. Printing  photos 
  9. How does Photolocator work?
  10. Storing  images on Zip drives
  11. Error Messages 
  12. Option Menu Items
  13. Importing Images from MLS and other sources

 

        Quick Start Instructions

1. Install Photolocator, and start the program. 
2. A dialogue box will appear asking you to specify where you store your images.  Browse through the directory list, and double click the image folder where all your pictures are. (If you don't yet have an image directory, create one using Windows Explorer.)    Click Save Folder .
Note: If you are not prompted with the message box, Click File, Create Workspace. Double click the Image Directory text box #1. The dialogue box will appear, and you can follow the prompts as just described. 
3. Add some pictures to the database. To add pictures that are already on your hard drive, click the Add New button. A file box will appear, showing all of the picture names in your image directory. Highlight the ones you want to add to the Photolocator database, and click the Open button. You can now view images. Check  How do I add addresses, etc to the database. for further instructions. If you are importing images from a floppy, just insert the floppy, and click Tools, Import Images from Floppy. Follow the prompts. 
4. To print pictures, first locate the pictures you want to print, and click the Add to Photopad button to add each image to the photopad. The photopad will appear, displaying the images you selected. Create a form by clicking the Display SFRX3 button. The form will appear. Now drag the images on to the form. Click the print button after all images and text have been entered. 

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        Using Workspaces, an overview

A basic understanding of how Photolocator works is necessary in order to understand workspaces. Photolocator works by indexing a database against the pictures contained in your image directory. The database is text only. The images are not compressed into the database itself.  The pictures exist as discrete files in your image directory. In Photolocator, the combination of a database and image directory comprise a workspace. To see how this works, click the File, Create Workspace menu. The Create Workspace form will appear. (see figure 1 below) You will see 5 rows, each one making up an individual workspace. The default name for workspace #1 is "default workspace" To change the name of the workspace, double click the box itself. An input box will appear. You can enter the desired name. The next column over is the database name section. By default, the database "photo.mdb" in the program directory will be displayed. Do not change this unless you are creating an additional workspace (#2 - #5), or are using Photolocator on a network. The next column over is the image directory column. To change this, double click the box itself, and a dialogue box will appear. Follow the prompts and locate the image directory that you want. (Please note that if you do not yet have an image directory, you must create one using Windows Explorer. )

Additional Considerations:

You can create up to 5 workspaces in Photolocator. In most cases, only one workspace is needed. If you just work with subject and comp photos, you can most likely get by with one workspace. 

When to create additional workspaces:

If you want to have a working directory with relatively recent photos, and an archive on a CD or zip disk for your older photos, then you should create a second workspace indexing on the zip or CD,  with a database and image directory on the archive drive.

If you have personal pictures in addition to your work files, then it would be a good idea to create a separate workspace for your personal images. 

If you scan parcel maps, flood maps, etc into your computer, then you should create a workspace for the maps. In this way, the maps can be located in a directory separate from your images. 

When it comes time to use a workspace, click File, Open Workspace, and select the workspace you want.  Only 1 workspace can be used  at a time. If you need to search for a photo, and you don't know which workspace it is in, you must search each individual workspace until you find the image. 

If you have a workspace open, and change its database or image directory from the Create workspace screen, then you must reopen the workspace (File, Open Workspace) in order for the changes to be reflected in the currently opened workspace.

Image Formats: Photolocator will work with all common image formats. (jpg, Kodak Flashpix, tif, etc. ) To increase system performance, avoid taking pictures in super high quality format. There typically is not a large difference in final printout quality when super high quality images are compared to normal quality images. Photolocator will run much faster when working with smaller image files, and you will use less hard disk space when storing images. You  must  also make sure your pictures are being stored as individual files. Some camera software provides an option to save pictures in "albums" or "canisters". In such cases, multiple pictures are compressed into a single file, which Photo Locator cannot read! Make sure you save the images as single files.

Figure 1: The 'create workspace' form, with 2 workspaces displayed. Double click the text boxes to make changes to the desired setting. 
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        Adding new pictures to the database 

Do the following steps only if you have already downloaded some pictures  to your image directory and want to add them to the Photolocator database. If you are downloading a new batch of images from floppies, or moving them from a temporary directory into your Photolocator Image directory, then skip the following section, and go to  Using the  Disk Manager. 

To use the database, first make sure you have properly set the image directory. (Using Workspaces) To add images that are already on your hard drive,  click the Add New button. A file dialog box will appear, showing a list of image names in the image directory. (if no image names appear, make sure the correct image type is selected. If no image names appear, then you have selected the wrong image directory while creating the workspace, or you have not downloaded any pictures to the directory yet. ) To add a single record, highlight it and click the Open button. To add a group of non sequential files, hold the Control key, click on the desired files, and click Open. (Note: if you want to rename your images, you can right click the image names prior to clicking the Open button. A menu will appear. Choose "rename" and type in the new image name)

If you do not use a serial cable to retrieve images from your camera, go to the Using the  Disk Manager section. (Many older cameras use a serial cable to download images to the computer.) The disk manager allows you to directly import images from a floppy, media stick, or USB device into the image directory. There is no need to do any of the above steps when importing images from floppies. 

If you download images via a cable , it is recommended that you create a temporary download directory, and use the Disk Manager to move the images from the temporary directory to your image directory. For more information, see  Using the  Disk Manager

 

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        Adding  addresses, etc. to the database

Once you have added pictures to Photo Locator (Adding new pictures to the database) , a grid will appear, showing the newly added images. Note the the text  'new' was inserted into the address field by default. In this way, Photolocator can locate and display the new images.  Now you have 2 methods to edit (enter addresses, etc) the records.

Method #1: This is the quickest way. On the grid, check the small box labeled , Allow Data to be updated.  The data grid  will turn cyan. This means you can now enter information into the grid. Click the mouse on the desired field on the grid, and begin typing. Hit the enter key twice  to go to the next field. The cursor will page down to the next record when you have edited the memo field. When you're done, it is a good idea to click the Allow Data to be updated check box one more time. This will disable the grid, so you don't accidentally erase or change data. Note: Don't change the ID#(File Name) This is the actual name of the picture, and if you change it , Photo Locator will not be able to find the image.

Method #2: On the Photo database form, click the Edit button. The form will turn white, which indicates that the record can now be edited. Type in the desired information for each of the fields. Again, do not change the ID#. Once you have added the desired information, click Save Changes. (see figure 2 below)

       

Figure 2: The photo database form is being used to edit the record. Note that the background of the text boxes is white, indicating that the data can be edited. The records can also be edited on the Photo Database Grid, below, by checking the "allow data to be updated" box. (The image on the Photo Database form can be enlarged by double clicking it)

 

Additional notes on the database. Be consistent when entering data! The whole purpose of entering data into the grid is to allow you to find the pictures at a later date. The database allows you to enter any combination of the 5 fields when searching. The memo field cannot be searched. If you want to add additional narrative information to a record, put it in the memo field. 

If you want to change the headings on the fields ("Address", "Street", "View", "Extra" and "Memo",  just double click the desired heading in the "current photo properties" section of the program. A dialogue box will appear, and you can type in the new field name. 

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Importing images from floppies

Use #1: The main purpose of the Disk Manager is to allow the user to move images from floppy disks, USB devices, and memory sticks  to the hard drive. USB devices can include cameras and media card adapters. Floppy disk adapters also work with the Disk Manager. (Floppy adapters allow the user to insert the card from the digital camera into a "floppy" that can then be inserted into the floppy drive. The images can now be renamed, and will be saved to the current workspace image directory. 

Note: Make sure you have the correct workspace open before you start the floppy manager. It will save the images to the currently opened workspace by default. 

Use #2: If you download your images with a serial cable into a temporary directory, (with the download software shipped with your camera), you can use Disk Manager to rename the images in the temporary download directory, and save them to the currently selected Photo Locator workspace  image directory. To do this, in Photo Locator, click Tools, Import Images from floppy. By default, the disk manager will look to the floppy drive. Click the button Change Startup Directory. Browse through the folders, and select the  temporary download directory in the file box. Click Save Changes. Now, each time you start the disk manager and click the View Thumbnails button, it will look to the temporary download directory by default.  

The procedure for importing images from floppy, USB, memory stick, or temporary directory is the same (once the startup directory is set, as in #2 above. ) The thumbnails will appear, with a gray and white box below each image. The gray box shows the default name of the image. This name is designated by the camera itself, or in some cases, by the download software that was bundled with your camera. The white box will show the "save as" file name. If you wish to change the "save as" name of the image, you can type it into the white box. Type only the file name and extension. Do not enter the path of the image. 

If you want to change all of the thumbnail names at once, click the Rename Images button on the thumbnail view form. A box will appear, prompting you for the prefix and starting number for the images. By default, the prefix "MVC-" will appear. (This is the prefix Sony uses for their images) . Enter the desired prefix, and tab down to the starting number box. Note that the starting image name will appear as you type, so you can see how the image naming scheme will look. Click the ok button, and the image names will be changed.  

Once the images have been renamed, they can be saved. Click the select all button, and all of the thumbnail borders will turn red. A red border  indicates that the image will be saved. If there are any images in the batch that you do not want to save, click it again to deselect it. The border will turn white, indicating the image will not be saved. After the images are saved, a message box will appear, asking if you want to add the records to the database. Click the Ok button, and the newly added records will appear on the datagrid. Please note that by using the disk manager, you do not need to use the "add new" method described in the "Adding new pictures to the database" section above. 

If you want to zoom in on any of the images in the Thumbnail view, just double click the desired image. 

 
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Using Photo Locator on a network

First, create an image directory on your server. Next,  install Photo Locator on all of the workstations. Once this has been done, click  File, Create Workspace on each of the workstations, and enter the desired name of workspace #1. Next, double click the database name text box, and click the Create a new database button. Create a new database folder on your server, and enter the name of the database. (on the remaining workstations, you will not create a new database. You will click the Locate an existing database button, and select the database you just created) Once the database has been set, double click the Image directory text box, and located the image directory that you created on the server. 

Additional notes. If you want a login screen to appear upon Photolocator startup, go to View, Options. Click the Show login screen on startup button. The user will be prompted to enter their network user name and password in order to start Photolocator. If you want to make the database read only, in order to prevent unauthorized editing of records, you can also check that option. Please note that if the Read only option is checked, many Photolocator functions will be disabled. 

 

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       Using the database 

Once you have added pictures to the database, and entered addresses, etc., as described above, ( adding addresses, etc. to the database)  it is possible to search for individual photos, or groups of photos. When you first begin using Photolocator, you can just browse the datagrid to find the photos you want. After a few hundred images have been  added to the database, this can become tedious. It is much quicker to find pictures by searching the database.   

The search screen can be invoked in most areas of Photolocator by pressing the F2 key, or by clicking File, Search Database . The search screen will appear. To conduct a search, just enter the desired text in the appropriate box, and click the Find It  button. (see figure 4 below) 

Figure 4. The search screen is displayed. In this example, all front views on streets starting with 'Palm' will be displayed when the Find It! button is clicked.  

 

Once the Find It button is clicked, the search screen will unload, and the data grid will appear , showing  only the records that match the search criteria that was entered.  If there are no matches , a message will appear, indicating that no records were found. Note that if you have 2000 records in your database, and conduct a search, the data grid will only display those records matching your search request. If you want to once again view all 2000 records, click the Reset Search button. Clicking the Cancel button will exit the search, and display the previously displayed records in the data grid. Clicking Clear Form will clear any text that has been entered in the text boxes of the search form. 

Some Example Search  Queries . The table below illustrates some search queries, and possible matches. In this example, text has only been entered in the Street field of the search form,  but it is possible to conduct searches using any combination of the five fields.

Search Text Possible Matches
Aspen* Aspendale, Aspen Dr, etc.
*aspen* Aspendale, Aspen Dr, Glen Aspen
aspen??? Aspen Dr. , Aspen Cr.
* All records with 1 or more characters

 

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Printing photos 

Photo Locator has 2 residential addenda, and a single photo only addenda.  There is a 3 and 2 image single family addendum. The photo only addendum will print just the picture, with no text,  in the size that you specify.  To print a picture(s), you must first find it using the database. (Using  the database ) Once the image has been found, you can either print it using Photolocator, or export it to an outside word processor or appraisal program. 

Method #1: Printing with the Photolocator Addenda. Use the Photo Locator addenda. Locate the desired picture, and click the Add to Photopad button. The Photopad will appear to the right of the screen, showing the selected image.  Repeat this for each of the images that you wish to post to the SFR or photo only  addenda. (You can also click the small arrow that appears in the data grid) Once you have filled the Photopad with the desired images, click the Display SFRX3 button to display the 3 image form, Display SFRX2 to display 2 image form, or Display Single Image form to display the image only form.  Once the desired report is displayed, just drag the images from the Photopad to the report.  Click the Print Report button when you are ready to print. 

Once an image has been placed on any of the Photolocator addenda, you can adjust the contrast, brightness, etc. by right clicking on the image. A menu will pop up, showing the options. The images can also be sharpened. A small amount of sharpening is applied each time Sharpen Image is clicked. The process may have to be repeated up to 5 times for blurry pictures.

 No editing actions are permanently saved to the images. They are reflected in the current printout, but once the addendum is closed, any editing changes will be lost.  If you apply too much brightness or contrast to an image and wash it out, just drag a new copy of the image from the photopad and overwrite the washed out image. 

The single family addenda can be saved. After you have placed text and images on either of the SFR forms, you can save the form. Click Save Report, and a dialogue box will appear, showing all of the data from the saved report. Enter the report name in the box, and click the Save Report button. To open a previously saved report, click File, Open Report. A dialogue box will appear. It is possible to scroll up and down through the saved reports. To conduct a search, click the Search button, and fill in any combination of text in the text boxes. Click the Find It! button, to execute the search. (Note: Saving reports does not consume a large amount of disk space. The images themselves are not embedded into the report. When a report is saved, only the text and image names are saved. )

 

Method #2: Printing to an outside program. If you wish to use an outside program to print your images, such as a word processor or 3rd party appraisal program, do the following: Locate the image as described above. To copy the bitmap to the clipboard, click the Copy to Clipboard button. To copy the image name to the clipboard, click the Copy Path button. This copies the name of the image to the clipboard. Now tab over to your word processor or appraisal form software, and bring up the image dialogue box in that software. Once you have an image box displayed, you can usually right click on it and select paste . If no menu appears, press the Ctrl-V key combo, which will paste the image name into the box.

Note: After an image has been placed on the photopad, if you hover the mouse cursor over the image, a small box will appear over the image, showing the address of the property. If you wish to zoom in on a photopad image, just right click on it, and a preview will appear.  

 

Using Photolocator with  Zip drives or recordable CDs

If you wish to store images on external media such as recordable CDs, first create an image directory on the external drive. Then, go to the File, Create Workspace menu and create a new workspace , pointing to the new image directory that you created. There are 2 ways to set up the database. For purposes of the following examples, assume you will accumulate 2,000 images over the next year, spread out over 4 Zip disks. 

Method #1: Create a new master database on your hard drive. (File, Create Workspace)  Each time a Zip fills up, you just create a new image directory on the next disk, but continue using the same database on the hard drive. 

Result of method #1: At the end of 1 year, all 2,000 records will be in 1 database, on your hard drive. You can search the database for a comp, and instantly know if you have taken a picture of it during the past year. However, if you do have the picture, you will have to swap between 4 zip disks to find the actual picture. Remember - with this method, there is 1 database on the hard drive. This 1 database references images spread out over 4 disks. This method gives you 1 central database, instead of  4 databases spread out among the 4 disks. 

Method #2:  Create a database on the Zip drive. (File, Create Workspace) Each time a Zip fills up, create a new image directory and database on the next Zip. 

Result of method #2: At the end of 1 year, you will have 4 databases spread out among the 4 zip disks( with about 500 records each) .  If you want to see if you have a comp photo, you will have to conduct a search each time you insert a Zip. This could get cumbersome if you end up with many Zips over time. On the other hand, if you are archiving images on recordable CDs, this may be the preferred method. 

Note: If you archive images to a read only CD, then you must check the Options, Make Database Read Only box. 

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How does Photolocator work?

Photolocator consists of 2 parts. The database, and the images themselves. Photolocator works by using a database to "attach" additional information to the pictures in your image directory. No copies of the pictures are made. They remain in the original directory. Photolocator then indexes on these pictures. The Photolocator database is text only. This database is located in the Photolocator directory. The images are not compressed into the database. The images, which can be in any directory that you specify, are not altered or renamed by Photolocator. (It is possible to rename pictures, but it is not automatically done.)
 

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Option Menu Items

Clicking the View, Options menu will display the available options in Photolocator. Here is a brief description of each option:

Disable Missing Photo Message. If an image name is in the database, but the actual image is no longer in the image folder, an error message will appear. Clicking this option will disable the appearance of the missing photo message. 

Disable Delete Message If the delete button is clicked on the Photo Database form, the current record will be deleted. The image itself will not be deleted. If you you not want to be prompted with a warning message, click this option. 

Disable Update Confirmation. Each time a record is changed or edited, a prompt will appear confirming the update. Click this option to disable the update confirmation. 

Print Options. There are 2 possible print options. If Use Windows Print Dialogue is selected, then when the Print report button is clicked from within any of the print forms, the standard Windows print dialogue will appear. If you only have 1 printer attached to the computer, then this option may be acceptable. If Use Photolocator Print Dialogue is selected, then a custom print dialogue box will appear. This option allows you to print to a printer other than the default Windows printer, with the specified options. For example, if you find yourself commonly selecting a color printer, legal size paper, and 3 copies each time you print your photos, then you could specify and save any or all of these settings with the Photolocator Print dialogue. These settings will not affect the Windows default printer settings. 

Database Options The first database option is Make Database Read only. If you have archived images and a database to a read only CD, then you must check this option. This option could also be checked if you do not want users to be able to edit records in the database. 

Show Login Screen at Startup.  For network users.) Clicking this option will cause a login screen to appear each time Photolocator starts up. The user must enter their user name and password in order to start Photolocator. 

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Importing Images from MLS and other sources

Images can be imported from MLS, the internet, or any other source that can export to the Windows clipboard. For example, to import an image from your local MLS (Multiple Listing Service), logon to the MLS, and locate the desired listing. Each system is different, so the entire procedure cannot be described here. Once you have the picture displayed on your screen, you should be able to copy the image. Once the image has been copied, go to Photolocator, and click Tools, Import Image from clipboard. A blank photo form will appear. Click the Paste Image button. The image will appear in the blank form. ( If an image does not appear, then you have made an error while copying the image from MLS.  Go back to MLS and try copying the image again.) After the image has been pasted to the Photolocator New Image form, you can edit contrast, brightness, etc. These changes will be permanent once the image is saved. Click the Save Image button, and a dialogue box will appear. Enter the file name, and click Save. By default, images will be saved as jpegs. You can also save in FPX, Tif, and several other formats. 

Once the image has been saved, you will be prompted  to add the image name to the database (version 4.07 and later) Click "yes", and the data grid will appear, showing the newly saved image. At this point, you can add the address, etc. to the record. 

Using the Shortcut Keys

F2: For most places in Photolocator will initiate the search engine. Once you are in the search engine and have entered criteria, you can again hit the F2 key to initiate your search.

F3: Hitting the F3 key from within the data grid will copy the contents of the cell directly above into the current cell.

F3-F8: While in the photo addenda, commonly used responses can be saved to the keys F3 through F8 for most of the data fields. To save a response, hold the control & alt keys while at the same time hitting the desired F key.

Ctrl+F: This moves to the first record in the database.

Ctrl+L: This moves to the last record in the database.

Ctrl+N: This moves to the next record in the database.

Ctrl+P: This moves to the previous record in the database.

Note: n most places, the image can be double clicked to enlarge it. Also, on the Photopad you can right-click the image to preview it.

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